Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Sotera Health from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Sotera Health from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Barclays reduced their target price on Sotera Health from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Sotera Health in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Sotera Health from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.88.

Sotera Health Price Performance

SHC stock opened at $16.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a current ratio of 3.13. Sotera Health has a 1 year low of $13.09 and a 1 year high of $19.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $18.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.97. The firm has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.68 and a beta of 1.94.

Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $324.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $319.86 million. Sotera Health had a return on equity of 38.46% and a net margin of 14.11%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sotera Health will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sotera Health

In other news, Chairman Michael B. Jr. Petras sold 850,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.50, for a total value of $15,725,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 3,969,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,433,770.50. This represents a 17.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 15.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sotera Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in Sotera Health by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 19,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sotera Health by 7.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its holdings in shares of Sotera Health by 1.5% during the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 55,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Sotera Health by 20.1% during the first quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 5,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Sotera Health by 2.3% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 55,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 1,263 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.03% of the company’s stock.

Sotera Health Company Profile

Sotera Health Company is a global provider of sterilization, laboratory testing and advisory services for the medical device, pharmaceutical and food industries. Its services help customers assess product safety, meet regulatory requirements and prepare products for use.

Through Sterigenics, the company provides contract sterilization using technologies including ethylene oxide, gamma irradiation and electron beam processing. Nelson Labs offers microbiological and analytical testing, as well as consulting, for medical devices and pharmaceutical products.